Anya Ciecierski

The post describes a marketing person at a Microsoft Dynamics partner whose salespeople, leadership and the marketer all agree the company should be more active, and who has reminded, encouraged and made it easy, with little result.

• The proposed fix is to replace 'you need to be active on LinkedIn' with a named assignment.
• Each salesperson gets five recent posts from people in their own pipeline and one action to take: like a post so the prospect sees their name, ideally leave a comment, follow the company page, or send a direct message with a relevant article.
• The reasoning is that engagement keeps the seller top of mind, and a thoughtful public comment may also be noticed by other prospects.
• The sourcing method starts inside the CRM rather than on LinkedIn: look at the largest opportunities in the 90-day pipeline, identify the decision-makers, influencers and existing contacts, then check those people on LinkedIn for recent posts, a connection to the owning salesperson, or a follow of the company page.
• Sales Navigator is raised as a possible paid next step, with a fuller blog post containing a sample message offered by direct message.

The post's suggested wording to a salesperson: 'This is the list of people involved in the deals YOU want to win this week. Engage with them this week.' Anya Ciecierski also asks a peer, Candyce Edelen, how a marketer at a small company begging leadership to use LinkedIn would run the same plan.

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Their reasoning is that these listings are another place where AI systems find information about a company and validate what it does, which matters when a model is deciding which companies to mention or cite.

• The recommended routine is described as a zero-cost activity: find every place online that describes the company, then check the description, products, services, industries, location, website address and logo.
• Accuracy is only part of it; consistency is treated as the real issue, because an old listing that still calls the company a Gold partner can confuse an AI system.
• The post suggests checking whether a platform has added fields the company has not filled in, investigating directories where the company is missing (ERP Software Blog and CRM Software Blog are given as examples), and watching AI visibility over time.
• One limit worth knowing: the public post gives the routine but not the actual prompt, which is said to sit in a longer article available by direct message.

The outdated 'Gold partner' description on older sites is the concrete case: the information may have been true once, but leaving it inconsistent across listings is what the argument says causes confusion.

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The posts point to the blogs' annual 'Best of' lists, which the post says are open to companies that are not blog members and cost nothing to enter, and celebrate ERP Software Blog being ranked first in an external list of 90 ERP blogs while noting the many member blogs also selected. The same education criterion is applied at the level of individual companies worth visiting at expos.

A post names roughly 90 member companies exhibiting at Community Summit, from 2-Controlware and ArcherPoint through to Western Computer and Znode, and states the goal of getting to all 90 booths. Another names members worth visiting at Directions EMEA for the same reason.

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The clearest example is a comparison of a Microsoft-led event with community-led ones: at Convergence, the argument goes, you hear Microsoft explain why products were built and what is planned, whereas community events show how partners use the products.

• For Dynamics partners trying to build Microsoft relationships, the post says this event puts them in the same room with more Microsoft people than any other Dynamics event, especially on the partner pre-day.
• It also gives a rough content split to set expectations, around 40% finance and supply chain, 40% Dynamics customer engagement and 20% Business Central, with a track per product on the pre-day.

The partner pre-day is the concrete recommendation: the ratio of Microsoft staff to partners is described as the reason it is worth the trip for partners building those relationships.

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Asked why he loves Power Apps, Shane Young answered 'Purple. Then Empowerment.' The substance of the relayed view is that Power Apps 'democratized building apps' and let non-technical people create the features and tools they want, and that the same opening now applies to AI, with Young quoted as saying 'You don't have to be a rocket scientist to do AI.' The post closes by looking ahead to what comes out of a Power Platform community event and tags TMC Global and PowerApps911.

The two quotations are the whole case in the post: 'Purple. Then Empowerment.' and 'You don't have to be a rocket scientist to do AI.'

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They open with a question or a confession, add a concrete situation from a real Microsoft partner, give a short list of steps a reader can act on the same day, and then point to a longer article available on request by direct message.

• The topics vary, but the pattern does not: one idea per post, a practical action, and a handoff.
• A consequence for a reader is that the public posts carry the reasoning and the routine, while the sample sales-team message and the AI-listings prompt are said to live in the longer articles, so the posts alone do not contain the full method.
• Lighter posts in the same voice, such as a confession about coming home from Community Summit with a suitcase of free swag, are community engagement rather than marketing advice and should not be read as a method.

The LinkedIn sales post is the clearest version of the shape: a question about spoon-feeding sales, the Dynamics partner's frustration, six or so concrete steps, and an offer of the blog post with a sample message.

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Anya Ciecierski starts with a question many B2B marketers recognise: should marketing have to spoon-feed sales and leadership to get them active on LinkedIn?

• The post describes a marketer at a Microsoft Dynamics partner whose salespeople, leadership and the marketer all agree the company should do more on LinkedIn, and who has reminded, encouraged and made it as easy as possible — with little result.
• The fix proposed is to make the assignment specific rather than repeating 'you need to be active on LinkedIn': give each salesperson five posts from their top prospects and ask for engagement — a like so the prospect sees their name, better a comment, a follow of the company page, or a direct message with a relevant article — so the salesperson stays top of mind and other prospects may notice an insightful comment.
• The sourcing method starts in the CRM: look at opportunities in the 90-day pipeline, identify the decision-makers, influencers and existing contacts on the biggest deals, then look those people up on LinkedIn to check whether they are active, have posted recently, are connected to the salesperson who owns the opportunity, or follow the company page.
• Anya Ciecierski closes by asking a peer how a marketer at a small company would run this, and mentions a longer blog post containing a sample message for the sales team and a note on why to consider paying for Sales Navigator.

For brands planning a campaign

For a B2B software company briefing a creator on sales-team LinkedIn engagement, the post supplies a repeatable structure: pipeline-first target lists, five-post assignments per salesperson, comment-first engagement, and a short sample message the team can copy.

Anya Ciecierski argues that company profiles on directories and platforms are no longer only a local-search concern.

• The reasoning is that these listings are another place where AI systems find information about a company and validate what it does, which can matter when a model decides which companies to mention or cite.
• The recommended routine is a zero-cost marketing activity: find every place online that describes the company, then check and correct the description, products, services, industries, location, website address and logo.
• Consistency is part of the job — old listings that still call the company a Gold partner can confuse an AI system.
• The post also suggests checking whether a platform has added fields the company has not filled in, investigating directories where the company is not listed at all (naming ERP Software Blog and CRM Software Blog as examples), and watching AI visibility over time.
• A longer blog post is said to include a prompt for finding listings.

For brands planning a campaign

Useful for a vendor that wants an AI-citation angle: the post provides a concrete, low-cost audit a creator could walk an audience through, with the follow-up prompt sitting in the linked article.

Anya Ciecierski shares a marketer's reaction that made their day and uses it to make a point about marketing work: marketers do 'all the things' and hope someone notices, and quotes and placements show it worked even when tracking is hard. The post announces that applications are open for the 2027 'Best of' lists from ERP Software Blog and CRM Software Blog, states that a company does not need to be a blog member to apply and that there is no cost, and invites Microsoft Dynamics VAR and ISV partners to send a direct message for the application link.

For brands planning a campaign

Shows a creator whose asset is editorial distribution rather than only personal reach; relevant to a campaign that wants a listing, award or directory angle for partner companies.

Anya Ciecierski notes that 90 members of ERP Software Blog and CRM Software Blog are exhibiting at the Summit, lists them by name — from 2-Controlware and ArcherPoint to Western Computer and Znode — and argues these are strong channel companies because they are committed to educating prospects and partners year-round rather than only at the show. The post ends with the goal of visiting all 90 booths.

For brands planning a campaign

Gives a partner-facing campaign a sense of network reach and the type of companies a listing or sponsorship sits alongside.

Anya Ciecierski says people often ask which events are worth attending, so attending is partly scouting.

• After missing one event in Paris, the plan is to attend the new Convergence in Miami for the first time.
• The post explains what makes Convergence different: it is Microsoft-led, so attendees hear Microsoft explain why products were built and what is planned, rather than the community showing how it uses them.
• For Dynamics partners trying to build Microsoft relationships, the event is described as putting them in the same room with more Microsoft people than any other Dynamics event, especially on the partner pre-day.
• Content is said to be roughly 40% finance and supply chain, 40% Dynamics CE and 20% Business Central, with a track for each product on the pre-day.

For brands planning a campaign

For an event or partner-marketing brief, this is a model of the practical comparison a creator can build: who is in the room, what the content mix is, and what the trip is for.

Anya Ciecierski recounts asking Shane Young why he loves Power Apps.

• The answer was 'Purple', then 'Empowerment': Power Apps 'democratized building apps' and let non-technical people create the features and tools they want.
• The post extends that to AI, quoting Young that 'you don't have to be a rocket scientist to do AI', and closes by looking ahead to what comes out of the Power Platform community event, tagging TMC Global and PowerApps911 — Power Platform Consulting and Training.

For brands planning a campaign

A short model of creator-style amplification: interview a practitioner, land one quotable line, and connect it to a product or event the audience can act on.

The proposed fix is to stop telling salespeople to 'be more active' and instead hand them a specific assignment — a list of five recent LinkedIn posts from people in their 90-day pipeline, with instructions to like a post, leave a comment, follow the company page or send a relevant article by direct message.

• Engaging is framed as staying top of mind, and a public comment is noted as something other prospects may see.
• Sales Navigator is raised as a possible paid next step, with an offer of a link to the fuller blog post.

Starts inside the CRM: identify the highest-value opportunities in the 90-day pipeline, list the decision-makers and influencers on each, check whether those people post on LinkedIn and whether they follow the company page, then assign named posts to each salesperson.

For brands planning a campaign

This is the clearest fit for the stated brief on sales-team LinkedIn engagement. A vendor selling sales-enablement, CRM or LinkedIn tooling to Microsoft partner audiences could sponsor or co-create a pipeline-to-post playbook rather than generic social-selling thought leadership; the appeal is that the method starts from deals a salesperson already cares about.

Examples: Source 1

The recommended exercise is to find every online place that describes the company, check the description, products, services, industries, location, URL and logo for accuracy and consistency (an old 'Gold partner' description is called out as confusing), complete fields platforms have added, and consider listings the company is missing. The post ends by pointing to a longer article with a prompt readers can use, offered by direct message.

Use an AI assistant to compile the list of places describing the company, correct and align each entry, fill newly available fields, investigate missing directories, then track AI citations over time.

The post describes the activity as zero cost and withholds the actual prompt, which sits in a blog post behind a direct-message request; the public page cannot verify the fuller method from this evidence alone.

For brands planning a campaign

Useful for AI-search visibility, listings-management or partner-marketing services aimed at Dynamics partners. The angle that works is a free audit checklist that produces an obvious next paid step, rather than an abstract argument about AI changing search.

Examples: Source 1

The posts promote their annual 'Best of' lists (open to companies that are not blog members, at no cost), celebrate ERP Software Blog being ranked first in an external list of 90 ERP blogs and note the many member blogs also selected, and name roughly 90 member companies exhibiting at Community Summit.

• Members are described as companies committed to educating prospects and partners year round — education, not size, is the stated reason for singling them out.
• A separate post names members worth visiting at Directions EMEA for the same reason.

For brands planning a campaign

For a brand targeting Microsoft Dynamics VARs and ISVs, the blog network is the distribution asset here: list participation, membership or event visibility places a company in front of partners who read these blogs. The education framing gives a campaign a non-salesy angle — a technical or buyer-education piece tied to a list or event.

Examples: Source 1 · Source 2 · Source 3 · Source 4

The Convergence post explains what makes a Microsoft-led event different — Microsoft explaining why products were built and what is planned, rather than the community showing how they use them — with a partner pre-day noted for its Microsoft-to-partner ratio and an approximate content split across finance and supply chain, customer engagement, and Business Central.

• Elsewhere the recommendations are expo-level: which member companies to visit at Directions EMEA, and a stated goal of reaching all 90 booths at Community Summit.
• Posts also ask followers who else is attending.

Attends events in person to judge them for the audience, then publishes specific, named recommendations and invites followers to compare plans.

For brands planning a campaign

Event organizers and exhibitors can use this as third-party endorsement aimed at people already deciding whether to attend and which booths to see. A practical campaign is a pre-event briefing that produces a named 'who to visit' post, or expo placement that earns a mention rather than a paid ad.

Examples: Source 1 · Source 2 · Source 3

Then Empowerment.' The argument is that Power Apps democratized building apps so non-technical people can create the tools they want, and that this now extends to AI — 'You don't have to be a rocket scientist to do AI.'

Short interview-style post built around one memorable quotation, with the vendor and its training arm tagged.

For brands planning a campaign

A good angle for Power Platform, low-code and AI-training vendors selling into partner communities. The value is a trusted community intermediary relaying a partner's empowerment message, with a hashtag tying the post to a Power Platform community event.

Examples: Source 1

Lighter personal posts sit alongside them in the same conversational voice — a confession about collecting swag at Community Summit, and a reaction to a customer testimonial that doubles as an invitation to apply for the next 'Best of' lists.

Not every post carries a campaign-relevant argument — the swag post and the testimonial reaction are community engagement, and should not be read as marketing methodology.

For brands planning a campaign

A sponsor gets a measured, low-volume editorial voice: the practical advice is distributed through short posts that funnel readers toward the blog network's own content, and the personal posts show the community rapport that comes with the reach. Campaigns should expect one clear idea per post and a handoff to owned long-form content, not a self-contained sales pitch.

Examples: Source 1 · Source 2 · Source 3

A separate post celebrates the blog being ranked first in a list of 90 ERP blogs. Her posts present the blog as a place where Microsoft Dynamics partners publish educational content and gain visibility.

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She also lists it as a directory where Dynamics companies can be found, suggesting readers consider a listing there.

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She does not state a working or commercial relationship with either business.

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No sponsorship, partnership, client or employment relationship is described.

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The post is an event mention, not a sponsorship or client arrangement.

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The post documents attendance and member participation, not a paid relationship.

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The work sits inside one employer's sales-enablement programme and stays on Sales Navigator mechanics — account uploads, CRM opportunities, buyer and category intent, focus-now and monitor lists — rather than the Microsoft Dynamics partner channel, blog network and event scouting Anya Ciecierski covers.

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The audience is employee-benefits brokers and the method is cold-call scripting around January renewal timing, with a stated test result (30% agreed to an email), not sales-team engagement inside Microsoft partner firms.

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Covers individual sales and recruiting coaching, personal-brand building and celebrating teams across industries, rather than the Microsoft Dynamics partner ecosystem, its blogs and its partner lists.

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The two posts reviewed are a Sales Navigator workshop series: building a book of business by adding accounts individually through search, through CRM integrations where available, or in bulk with LinkedIn's account upload template, then using CRM opportunities, buyer intent and category intent to sort accounts into Focus Now, Monitor and Develop Later, and finally building lead lists around the people who matter to the account plan rather than the most senior job titles.

• The stated principle is that account lists answer where to focus and lead lists answer who matters there, and that the goal is a clear reason for the next action rather than more accounts and more lists.
• A buyer whose problem is 'which accounts, which people, this week' gets more usable structure from this than from a posting assignment.

The tradeoff is the layer the buyer needs.

• This material is account and lead-list mechanics inside Sales Navigator; it does not supply the marketing assignment layer — which prospect posts a rep should engage with, what action counts as success, or a message a marketing lead can hand to the team — which is what Anya Ciecierski's 90-day-pipeline post provides.
• It also reads as an enablement trainer's account of running workshops for representatives, with no sign of a channel community, blog network or event tie-in that a Microsoft Dynamics partner campaign could plug into.
• Two posts are thin evidence of a complete approach, and no campaign results or commercial terms are documented for either person.

Examples: Source 1 · Source 2

The reviewed posts give concrete rules: ask verifying questions to find where a prospect sits in the decision process and to avoid spending time on someone not ready to move; keep digital questions to discrete answers such as yes or no and this or that, saving open-ended questions for live conversations; place the question on its own line near the end of the message because people skim to the bottom; commit to a new approach for a set period before judging it; and prefer a message to an existing connection over an InMail, which the post describes as a mailbox where you drop a flyer. A second post makes the case for celebrating team members publicly with five business reasons — retention, prospect familiarity, recruiting, remote-team cohesion and a positive work environment — and applies the same idea to recognising people in your network.

This material coaches individuals on their own outreach and employer-brand posts.

• It does not show a marketing team assigning LinkedIn activity across a sales organisation, working from CRM pipeline, or distributing through a partner blog and event network, which is Anya Ciecierski's method and the reason a channel vendor would pick her for this brief.
• Stemann supplies the message discipline but not the channel reach or the handoff to a blog-member layer, so a Dynamics-partner campaign would be buying pieces of the problem rather than the whole path from pipeline to activity.
• The evidence is two posts with no measured outcomes, no audience composition data and no commercial terms.

Examples: Source 1 · Source 2

The reviewed January posts are a cold-call strategy for benefits brokers after a 1 January renewal: three stated truths about the prospect's state, an opening call line, a top-five-ways-to-lower-premiums one-pager offered as the reason for the call, and a follow-up call to discuss it, reported as producing 30% agreement to receive the email.

• The second post is about using LinkedIn to warm up in-person meetings — starting conversations early, posting about what they care about, and sharing experience to build trust before meeting face to face.
• A campaign built around a seasonal moment and a downloadable resource fits this pattern well.

For the sales-team-on-LinkedIn brief, both the audience and the mechanism differ.

• Dawson's frame is an individual broker on the phone, not a marketing department trying to get an entire sales team posting and commenting; the LinkedIn post is personal relationship-building before in-person meetings, not a repeatable team assignment that a marketer can hand out.
• The audience is employee benefits, not the Microsoft Dynamics, ERP and CRM partner channel, so the topic, the examples and the event and blog ecosystem do not transfer to that buyer.
• As with the other alternatives, two posts are available, no outcomes beyond one self-reported call result, and no commercial terms are documented.

Examples: Source 1 · Source 2